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  1. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    I have no problem taking the vaccine at all, though I am in Christine’s boat and unable to secure an appointment.  I am depressed by the anti-vax movement in general.  However, John’s general tone and attitude here make me not want to take the vaccine.  Ever.  Ever, ever, ever, evvvvvvvvver.  His is not a persuasive tact.  And by the way.  Both my social security number and my son’s SSN have been stolen from hacked into government databases.  The government is not good at privacy.  

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  2. T.C. Member
    T.C.
    @TCNYMEX

    oh God, Jpod how could you possibly be in favor of vaccine passports? as a famous physicist once said said “that is so silly it doesn’t even approach being merely wrong”

    you compare an employer not hiring somebody without proof of a vaccine to  employers testing for illegal drugs. so you want to draw a parallel between an employer saying “if you VOLUNTARILY TAKE AN ILLEGAL DRUG, we won’t hire you” to an employer saying “you must must INVOLUNTARILY TAKE A MEDICAL TREATMENT  to work for us”. you understand the difference between a voluntary action of a worker disqualifying him from employment, rather than forcing an employee to undergo an involuntary medical treatment, don’t you?

    you claim that after vaccines are available to everyone over 16, it only makes sense to have medical passports to encourage the reluctant to get vaccined (if that’s a verb). … much like the apocryphal French generals, why not just shoot every 10th person without a vaccine certificate, “in order to encourage the others”. … after everyone over 16 has had a vaccine available what is the point of the passport? if you are in a bar or in a nightclub or in a restaurant and you have had the vaccine, you are safe from infection. if some unvaccinated person with covid walks in, since you are vaccined, they cannot harm you. if you reply, “I am only 95% safe; they should be forced to take a vaccine to reduce the chances that I am one of the unfortunate 5%” your position amounts to “because my medical treatment doesn’t give me all the protection I want and is imperfect, I need to force other people to involuntarily take the same imperfect medical treatment that I am unhappy with”.

    if you are concerned that the unvaccinated would speed up the process of viral mutation and allow for viral variants; you are  saying “my vaccine doesn’t protect me against every possible outcome in the world, so despite the fact that I don’t think my vaccine is fit for purpose, I am just and righteous in forcing you to take it”. several times in the podcast you referred to people that were reluctant to take the vaccine as “garbage people” with “garbage reasons” … just a tip Jpod, try to avoid referring to people as “garbage people”.

    the argument that private contracts between employers and employees are okay, it’s just the government mandating vaccine passports that are a problem, rings hollow. the government has back door ways of mandating things that they are explicitly precluded from doing constitutionally. the government could not say “we don’t like what you said on Twitter about some government policy, so we’re going to make it impossible for you to get employed” … but the government can turn around and say “Mr employer, one of your employees says nasty things on Twitter. and even though that single employee has never discussed politics in the office, the fact that he’s discussed it on Twitter means that his fellow employees know his political views. and his political views make them feel unsafe. so under OSHA rules you are allowing for an unsafe work environment. in order to maintain a safe work environment you must fire the employee who has never discussed politics in the office but has expressed an opinion on Twitter” … don’t think that can happen? think that’s far-fetched? look at the statement of the New York times reporters that specifically said their workplace was unsafe because a feature’s editor allowed a senator to publish an op-ed, and that the features editor had to go. the use of the word “unsafe” was carefully crafted with the advice of an OSHA lawyer on the petition signers side. I guarantee you some employment lawyer that the times engaged pointed out that the times would be taking on an OSHA liability if they didn’t persuade the features Editor to leave.

    better not to have passports at all, better to pass some legislation that precludes anybody from asking you about your vaccination status, then to risk falling into what the London Spectator has called a “bio surveillance state”.

    PS: I’m not a vaccine denier, in fact I was vaccinated. but I would very much resent having to prove it in order to function in society. I’m not a vaccine denier, I just value privacy and Liberty.

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  3. MDHahn Coolidge
    MDHahn
    @MDHahn

    JPod is way off base here. I get frustration with anti-vaxers like Metaxis. It never ceases to amaze me how the biggest Trumpers on Twitter are suddenly against the vaccines–even though we only have them because of Project Warp Speed. Arguably Trump’s biggest achievement is the vaccine, but guys like Metaxis and Berenson are discouraging people from getting it for no reason.

    But JPod is just wrong about vaccine passports. They are a dangerous thing by any government at any level. Even with protections for conscience and medical objections, the passports could easily be abused. It’s a slippery slope that leads nowhere good.

    Also, Christine is right. It will only reinforce the “skeptics” and their fear mongering. Our messaging on the vaccines has been garbage from day one. This is the way to end the pandemic and return to normalcy. Get vaccinated and go back to normal. That should be the message. Persuasion is the way to do that, not force or shame by the government. 

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  4. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    T.C. (View Comment):
    you understand the difference between a voluntary action of a worker disqualifying him from employment, rather than forcing an employee to undergo an involuntary medical treatment, don’t you?

    Excellent point, and I have no problem getting the vaccine either once it’s actually available to me.  

    • #4
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